This is the feminist SNOW WHITE retelling I’ve always wanted. I’ve been waiting for this book without even knowing it. If you also find yourself rolling your eyes at some of the more traditional, damsel-in-distress tales, this is the fairy tale for you.

Melissa Bashardoust’s debut novel tells the story of two young women. Sixteen-year-old Mina lives with her magician father and has no concrete memory of the mother who died when Mina was just a child. Mina longs to be loved and to be able to show love, but the glass heart inside her chest won’t allow it. When Mina and her father move to the castle, Mina decides that she will get the newly-widowed king to fall in love with her and become queen.

Lynet is the daughter of the king and has never known her mother, though she is the spitting image of the former queen. Lynet’s whole world is turned upside down when she discovers that she was formed from snow and was created to look just like her mother. Her father has certain expectations for how she lives her life, but Lynet has other plans. She wants to be less like the mother she never met and more like her beloved stepmother, Mina. But when the king ousts Mina and gives her role to Lynet instead, a rivalry for the throne is ignited between the two women.

Alternating chapters tell the stories of Mina’s past and Lynet’s present, while completely shattering the traditional fairy tale tropes. Prince Charming is nowhere to be found (and Lynet has no need for him, anyway) and Mina is a much more complicated character than your run-of-the-mill evil stepmother. Perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer’s CINDER, Angela Carter’s THE BLOODY CHAMBER, or Amanda Lovelace’s THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE, Bashardoust’s novel is Frozen meets Robin McKinley and it is even more delightful than you could ever imagine.

WINTERSONG by S. Jae-JonesAges 12 to 18
Set at the turn of the 19th century, this richly imagined debut coming-of-age story spins a spellbinding tale perfect for fans of Labyrinth and THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST as a young woman searches for her sister who was kidnapped by the Goblin King. “There are plenty of nods to Labyrinth, but atmospherically, this first novel is most similar to another debut: Robin McKinley’s BEAUTY. …this is an exquisitely and lyrically crafted tale of longing, sibling loyalty, and the importance of women in a time when women were so often overlooked. Eerie, unsettling, and, above all, full of music.” — Booklist, starred review